The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 8 September 1841

Source Note

, Letter, , New York Co., NY, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 8 Sept. 1841; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, endorsement, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 7⅝ inches (25 × 19 cm) and ruled with thirty horizontal blue lines. An embossed logo from a paper mill appears in the top left corner of the first page and reads “Southworth Co., Springfield”. The letter was written on the recto of the first leaf. The bifolium was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The letter was endorsed in its trifolded state and was subsequently folded for filing.
A docket by , who served in a clerical capacity for JS from 1841 to 1842, indicates that money was received and that the document was retained by the of JS in 1841. It reads: " | to | Jos. Smith | Sept. 8th 1841 | $40”. , who worked in the Church Historian’s Office from 1853 to 1859, docketed the letter a second time. The letter is listed in a Church Historian’s Office inventory from circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The dockets, inventory, and inclusion in the JS Collection indicate this letter has remained in continuous institutional custody since its receipt in 1841.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  2. [2]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 8 September 1841, wrote the following letter from to JS in , Illinois, to continue correspondence about a real estate transaction. As part of an earlier agreement, Bernhisel had sent JS $425 in July 1841 to purchase land in or around Nauvoo on Bernhisel’s behalf. In his 12 July 1841 letter, Bernhisel promised to send an additional cash deposit, which he sent with this 8 September letter, along with a book as a gift.
gave the letter to , a member of the , to carry to . After Woodruff arrived in Nauvoo on 6 October 1841, he hand-delivered the letter and enclosures to JS. In a letter written two months later, JS expressed his gratitude for the included gift.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841.

  2. [2]

    Woodruff, Journal, 6 Oct. 1841.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  3. [3]

    Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 16 Nov. 1841.

Page [1]

September 8th. 1841.
Dear Brother,
You will herewith receive a copy of Stephens’s Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, which I hope you will do me the favor to accept, as a small testimony of my gratitude to you for the valuable services you are rendering me, and as a token of my regard for you as a Prophet of the Lord.
With sentiments of the highest consideration, I am yours in the bonds of the .
P.S. I have had the pleasure to receive your favor of the 5th ultimo, acknowledging the receipt of the certificate of deposite for four hundred and twenty five dollars, and kindly saying that you would expend it to the best advantage. In addition to the above will hand you forty dollars, and the balance I will endeavor to remit you soon after you inform me that you have made the purchase, but certainly before the first of May next. On the genuineness of the bills you may place the most implicit reliance, for one of them I obtained at the bank from which it was issued, and the other at the Greenwich bank. I sincerely condole with you on the death of your brother . [p. [1]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [1]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 8 September 1841
ID #
683
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:260–262
Handwriting on This Page
  • John M. Bernhisel

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan was a two-volume travelogue by John Lloyd Stephens, published in 1841. The work recounted “a journey of nearly three thousand miles in the interior of Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, including visits to eight ruined cities, with full illustrations from drawings taken on the spot by Mr. [Frederick] Catherwood,” an English artist. Before delivering the volumes to JS, Woodruff read them. On 13 September 1841 he recorded, “I spent the day in reading the 1st vol of INCIDENTS OF TRAVELS. . . . I felt truly interested in this work for it brought to light a flood of testimony in proof of the book of mormon.” (Stephens, Incidents of Travel, 1:iii; Woodruff, Journal, 13 Sept. 1841.)

    Stephens, John L. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. 2 vols. 11th ed. New York City: Harper and Brothers, 1841.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  2. [2]

    Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 3 Aug. 1841.

  3. [3]

    Woodruff had returned from a mission in the British Isles in May 1841. After arriving in New York, he left for Maine to reunite with his wife, Phebe Carter Woodruff, and to meet Wilford Jr., their newborn son. Woodruff was back in New York on 21 August 1841 to accept the money and gift for JS. (Woodruff, Journal, 27 and 28 May 1841; 2 June 1841; 21 Aug. 1841.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  4. [4]

    Counterfeit bills were ubiquitous during the first half of the nineteenth century, and detecting them became increasingly difficult. By the 1830s their prevalence was so widespread that people were cautious when accepting money, and “counterfeit detector” pamphlets were even published for consultation. (Mihm, Nation of Counterfeiters, 5–8.)

    Mihm, Stephen. A Nation of Counterfeiters: Capitalists, Con Men, and the Making of the United States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007.

  5. [5]

    The Greenwich Savings Bank, incorporated in 1833, was located at 11 Sixth Avenue in southwest Manhattan, New York City, within blocks of Bernhisel’s residence on Hudson Street. (History of the Greenwich Savings Bank, 7–8.)

    History of the Greenwich Savings Bank, New York, Together with the Acts of Incorporation and a List of the Trustees and Officers from the Foundation of the Institution. New York: De Vinne Press, 1896.

  6. [6]

    Don Carlos Smith died on 7 August 1841 from “consumption,” likely pulmonary tuberculosis. (“Death of General Don Carlos Smith,” Times and Seasons, 16 Aug. 1841, 2:503; Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06